We had a great turn out for February 14th’s UIE virtual webinar, “Building Trust with Your Users through Messaging & Copy.” We even had one of our next-desk-over Galvanize companies, MedPassage, attend, looking for suggestions on how to talk to their customers. We blew their minds!

Building trust with a friend, girlfriend or boyfriend, sister, or a customer isn’t a one time event. It’s something that takes place over the life of a relationship. It’s integrated into everything we do and say. It’s setting realistic expectations and meeting or exceeding them. It’s delivering on those expectations, whether personal or professional. It’s real, it’s powerful, and it comes from knowing yourself and your service or product.

When building trust with your customers, don’t be afraid to write like a real person. Don’t be afraid to use words and phrases real people would use and don’t worry if they’re not sexy. They’re not sexy because they’re used all the time. If they’re used all the time, you can bet your customer is using them and that’s great for SEO and AdWords.

Don’t be afraid to ask your Mom. Give your content the Mom test: “If you sound like a tool saying it to your Mom, you probably sound like a tool.” Don’t try to be fancy. Use real words and phrases you would normally use talking to a friend. Or your Mom. It’s a conversation – treat it as such.

There’s a wealth of data on the interwebs to find out how people are talking about you, your products, or your service. Google’s Keyword tool is a great place to start along with Facebook, Twitter, Google analytics, and asking people how they talk about you product or service. If you don’t or can’t find what you’re looking for, hire a UXer to test, survey, interview, and ask for you.